Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer
July 17, 2017 by marianne h donley in category Writing Classes tagged as Canva, Elena Dillon, Marketing, Online Classes
Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer
Instructor: Elena Dillon
Cost: $79
Dates: On Demand
What is visual content and why do you need it for your marketing strategy? And how does this apply to your author business?
The answer is simple.
Visual content is anything that uses pictures, graphics, video, etc. When you see a GIF of cats falling off tables? That’s visual content. A pretty graphic with a quote from a book? Visual Content. Those fabulous cooking videos where they make a cinnamon roll apple pie in twenty seconds? Visual content.
It’s what will get your content seen. As a matter of fact, statistically your readers are 44% more likely to engage with visual content. Hmmm. 44%? Hard to ignore. We all want to work smarter not harder, right? In this class, you will learn:
- How to decide what kind of visuals will work for you and your business
- How to create all kinds of visuals
- How to make one piece of content work in many different ways
- Drive traffic where you want it to go (your website, lead page, Amazon or other retailer page)
- Save time and effort in your marketing efforts
Who should take this class?
This class for you if you’ve never created any kind of graphics on your own. It’s for authors who need to learn how to create visual content for their author business and are unsure about using new technology. We will go over:
- Strategies for smarter marketing
- Tools that make visual content easier to create and more manageable
- How to plan out your content and marketing so it takes up less precious writing time.
And believe it or not? I’ll make it fun. I’ll teach you how to create a graphic while you’re standing in line for coffee. =)
About the instructor:
Who Am I?
I’m Elena Dillon, an author of the award winning Young Adult Breathe series. When I’m not writing, I love to help my author friends with technology and social media. I’ve taught Social Media for the Confused and Terrified, Pinterest for the Confused and Terrified, Visual Content for Authors and spoken at numerous conferences, chapters, and groups about social media and indie publishing.
Most of the time, I’m a wife to my husband of twenty-six years, mom to my two grown kids and servant to my high-maintenance English bulldog, Brutus, while I wait, not so patiently, for grandbabies.
Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer
Instructor: Elena Dillon
Cost: $79
Dates: On Demand
2 0 Read moreEPIC FACEBOOK AD FAILURE…IT WAS ALL MY FAULT
May 5, 2017 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as Ads, Facebook, Marketing, Newsletters
I am a huge fan of Facebook [FB] Ads. Having said that. Let’s get started.
Like most Indie Writers, I am my own marketing director and publicist. Ultimately, I am the only one getting the word out about my books. No matter how many people I bribe, I mean beg to post on their social media or who voluntarily spread the word, getting the word out is on me.
I have been fortunate to participate in book promotional events
I have been very fortunate to participate in a couple of book promotional events that helped build my mailing list. As well as, using Facebook ads.
The first time I placed a FB ad, I didn’t expect thousands or even hundreds of subscribers. I was just hoping someone clicked the ad. 
I thought my first FB ad, did decent…reach 3,050, subscribers 46 and $23.47 over a 5 day period. The second time I placed a FB ad the reach was 2,589, number of subscribers 81 and $53.49 over a 7 day period. [I might be off on my duration by a day or two.] Again, I thought those were good numbers. I tried it one more time. This time the reach was 3,609 with 144 subscribers at a cost of $74.47. [Each ad was done with a different book or a free book.]
Reality Check
I recently got a reality check when it came to my results…these were not that good. Another thing I didn’t do, was keep good records. All I was looking at was how many subscriptions I got and not going over budget.
I recently completed Mark Dawson’s course on Facebook Ads and realize I could have done better. [This isn’t a post for the course or Mark Dawson.] Some of my classmates have been posting their results and even the examples in the lectures, revealed, I could have done much, much better.
I finished the class excited about correcting my mistakes. I know I can’t fall prey to the writer’s golden rule, “Don’t compare your progress/success to another writer. I hear myself saying the words and see them in this post. Yet, I can’t help but compare my results to much more successful writers.
I ran a couple, okay a few ads and the results were horrible. See for yourself.
Reach Clicks
1,416 50
3,307 43
1,318 32
686 29
No, those aren’t my Amazon rankings, but the results of my FB ads. I got so frustrated. I ran these numbers by my accountability group and in the FB group for my class. Check out the ads throughout the post and tell me, what the problem is, because I’m stumped.
My numbers were doing so badly, I would change ads in the middle of the day or only let the ad run a day, maybe two. I finally settled on one ad and then I pulled the rest. I let that ad run three days, but the numbers never got any better.
I posted my issue on my class group and someone in my FB group came up with the only thing that made since…reviews. I have a nice library or catalogue, but I don’t have a lot of reviews on the books I was trying to sell. True, there are a couple of ads that are bad, but the reviews is the thing that really made the most sense. I also changed the audience, but the numbers didn’t improve.
The ad with the reluctant heiress, is the one I finally settled on.
Apparently, reviews play a much bigger part than I knew. Let me back track, because that makes me sound ill-informed. I know reviews are very important. It was just when I ran the ads to increase my mailing list they really didn’t matter because I was looking to increase my mailing list. Not sell books. 
Again, not to push Mark’s course, but in the course, he shared a way to build a mailing list via an email sequence. [I’m in the process of setting up an email sequence. I’ll post about that later.] I thought I could dive right into the ad game without expanding my mailing list. My mailing list is over 2,100. Like most writers, I’ve had some unsubscribe, which is cool. I’ve also had some join organically. However, I need to bump that number up. Let me rephrase that, I want to bump it up. A larger list, can improve my sales numbers. More possible readers equals more possible sales. Which can also mean a bigger pool or source of reviews.
I am determined to correct my epic FB ad fail and start over. Step one, increase my email list. Step two, set up a new FB ad attached to an email sequence. Step three, get some reviews.
I plan to put my new plan into action on next week. I’ll update you next month.
Tracy
Tracy Reed
Sophisticated Romance
0 0 Read more
7 Ways to Market and Promote Your Books Without Breaking the Bank
April 9, 2017 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing Classes tagged as Kitty Bucholtz, Marketing, promotion, Writing Workshops
Perhaps the most difficult part of a writer’s career is selling your books. Whether your book is traditionally published or self-published, trying to figure out how to let readers know your book is available can be enough to make you tear your hair out.
In this 4-week online class, learn at least seven things you can do to find your readers and tell them about your book. We’ll look at creating newsletters (including why, what to say, and how often to send them), giveaways, free promotions, free advertising, paid advertising, Facebook ads, box sets, and more!
Join us and find more ways to increase visibility of your books without emptying your wallet. It’s easier than you might think!
To join: http://occrwa.org/classes/April-online-class/
Taught by Kitty Bucholtz
Kitty Bucholtz writes superhero urban fantasy and romantic comedy, often with an inspirational element woven in. After she earned her MA in Creative Writing, she decided to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher, forming Daydreamer Entertainment and self-publishing her first novel in late 2011. Founder of WRITE NOW! Workshop, she loves to teach writing workshops online and in person.
4 0 Read moreVisual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer
February 3, 2017 by Marianne H. Donley in category Writing: It's a Business tagged as Elena Dillion, Marketing, OCC/RWA Online Class, Social Media
What is visual content and why do you need it for your marketing strategy? And how does this apply to your author business? The answer is fairly simple.
Visual content is anything that uses pictures, graphics, video, etc. When you see a GIF of cats falling off tables? That’s visual content. A pretty graphic with a quote from a book? Visual Content. Those fabulous cooking videos where they make a cinnamon roll apple pie in twenty seconds? Visual content.
It’s what will get your content seen. As a matter of fact, statistically, your readers are 44% more likely to engage with visual content. Hmmm. 44%? Hard to ignore. We all want to work smarter not harder, right? In this class, you will learn:
How to decide what kind of visuals will work for you and your business
How to create all kinds of visuals
How to make one piece of content work in many different ways
Drive traffic where you want it to go (your website, lead page, Amazon or other retailer page)
Save time and effort in your marketing efforts
This class for you if you’e never created any kind of graphics on your own. It’s for authors who need to learn how to create visual content for their author business and are unsure about using new technology. We will go over:
Strategies for smarter marketing
Tools that make visual content easier to create and more manageable
How to plan out your content and marketing so it takes up less precious writing time.
And believe it or not? I’ll make it fun. I’ll teach you how to create a graphic while you’re standing in line for coffee. =)
Join me for the fun in the February 2017 OCCRWA Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer class!
About the instructor:
Who Am I?
I’m Elena Dillon, an author of the award winning Young Adult ‘Breathe’ series. When I’m not writing, I love to help my author friends with technology and social media. I’ve taught Social Media for the Confused and Terrified, Pinterest for the Confused and Terrified, Visual Content for Authors and spoken at numerous conferences, chapters and groups about social media and indie publishing.
Most of the time, I’m a wife to my husband of twenty-six years, mom to my two grown kids and servant to my high-maintenance English bulldog, Brutus, while I wait, not so patiently, for grandbabies.
Enrollment Information
This is a 4-week online course that uses email and Yahoo Groups. If you do not have a Yahoo ID you will be prompted to create one when you join the class, but the process is not difficult. The class is open to anyone wishing to participate.
Enroll at: http://occrwa.org/classes/february-online-class/
Class dates: February 13 to March 10
Two Classes For Writers – Self-Publishing and Book Promotion by Kitty Bucholtz
August 9, 2016 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing Classes tagged as Author promotion, E-book marketing, Kitty Bucholtz, Marketing, OCC/RWA Online Class, OCCRWA Online Class, Online Class, Online Classes, promotion, self publishing, self-publishingThis month I’m teaching a brand new online class for OCC – “7 Ways to Market and Promote Your Book Without Breaking the Bank.” I’m excited to share the things I’ve learned about inexpensive promotions – including having an author newsletter – with my writer friends!
The 4-week class starts next Monday, August 15, 2016, and costs $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members. You don’t have to be a member of RWA to enroll in the class. You can read more about it and sign up for the class here. I hope to see you there! [Note: Signing up is a 2-step process. You must hit the purple “Yahoo Groups Join Now” button AND then come back to the page and pay via PayPal. If you only do one step or the other, you won’t be in the class until you complete both steps.]
This week I also re-opened my full-sized online course, “Your How-to Guide to Self-Publishing.” I’m so excited about everything I’m doing on the new website! There are five modules covering every step you need to take to get from finished manuscript to published book. I’ve spread it out over eight weeks, which should be plenty of time to learn what you need to do in the lessons and then go apply it. And you’ll have lifetime access so you can come back to the lessons as often as you like.
I’ve included videos, audio downloads, text-based lectures, and worksheets to help you through the entire process. There’s also a private Facebook group where students can ask questions and share their experiences. Two of the three tiers give students access to weekly/monthly live video-based Q&A calls, and those in the upper tier also get a private coaching call with me.
There are payment plans for all three tiers, and bonuses for anyone who signs up by August 15. You can learn more about it all at WriteNowWorkshop.com. If you have any questions, please email me at kitty AT writenowworkshop.com.
I’m looking forward to helping more writers self-publish their books and find new ways to promote them. I hope to see you in one of my classes!
Kitty Bucholtz
Kitty Bucholtz decided to combine her undergraduate degree in business, her years of experience in accounting and finance, and her graduate degree in creative writing to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher. Her novels, Little Miss Lovesick, A Very Merry Superhero Wedding, and Unexpected Superhero are currently available on Amazon . The free short story Superhero in Disguise and the new short story Welcome to Loon Lake are available wherever ebooks are sold. You can find out about her courses on self-publishing, marketing, and time management for writers at her website Writer Entrepreneur Guides.
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